Yesterday I emailed my information man Jon Gardiner. What's the plan for Saturday? He emailed me back.
*Saturday, May 29th from 1:00-3:00pm at
Mad Hatter Saloon (360 3rd Ave., btwn. E. 26th St. and E. 27th St.)*
Jon is from Nashville. He went to school in Michigan. I have been to Nashville. He is on the Reshma 2010 staff.
Reshma is a great political brand name to have. It even rhymes with Obama.
Last Saturday he had talked of a barbecue in some park. Instead it was a get together in a bar.
I showed up dressed in black. It was nice and warm out. I had a steamed dumplings lunch right before I took off. The first thing I asked for was water. Other than stealing a few nachos and a few jalapenos from Reshma's plate, I stuck to the water. I stayed away from the beer. When all was said and done, four of the leading staffers stayed back inside the bar to play a game on the screen - Megan beat them all, it was a shooting game - and they got yet another pitcher. I said no, thanks.
I watched them play. Then I left. They kept playing, pointing the plastic gun at the screen. I walked over to Curry In A Hurry on Lexington and 28th. I ordered two samosas and went upstairs and sat down to a great view of the street below.
I walked over to Union Square where I hopped onto the train. Kevin Lawler, the Campaign Manager is on the L line, I am on the L line. Kevin is from Portland, Oregon. At the Farmer's Market in Union Square I bought a big bag of apples for a dollar, and some banana bread for another dollar. (Farmville Farmer's Market: My Idea)
I got to meet and talk at length to Kevin for the first time. He was on the Obama 08 staff for a year. He is impressive.
The gathering was fun. It did have a lull before the storm feeling. The entire team is getting ready to soon collect signatures to get Reshma on the ballot.
Jon's "football lawyer" elder brother showed up. So you guys are from Nashville? I asked.
"Actually I was there only yesterday," he said.
My talk with Kevin was in depth. I hope to follow up on that. I guess I am still exploring the idea of going to work for Reshma 2010 full time for three and a half months.I smell victory, and I want to make sure it does happen.
@a_buchanan showed up. Last/first I saw her was at the Al Wenger tech event.
In all 15-20 people showed up. A few were come and go. I had a great time. I was relaxed before I got there. I was relaxed while there. I was relaxed when I left. There were some great conversations. I noticed Megan and Reshma have a telepathy thing going on. Megan Simpson is the Field Director. She has more people reporting to her than anyone else on the campaign staff, I think. She is a sharp shooter too.
Megan is from Iowa. I have been all over Iowa, I said to her last Saturday which is when she revealed her Iowa roots. Now that is one political state.
The final scene of the day stayed in my mind. There were these four staffers, five, taking turns at a video game. Really getting along, having a fun time together, cracking jokes. That was small proof the campaign is in a great shape. The internal dynamics are in top shape.
Reshma Saujani is a Gujarati like Mahatma Gandhi. Never underestimate a Gujarati, especially when it comes to politics. Churchill underestimated Gandhi, and look what happened to the British Empire. Empire Maloney, watch out.
She is usually on a tight schedule. So around 2:30 she left. She came back for her sunglasses.
Last Tuesday I showed up for an Aborn event near Union Square. I almost missed it. I thought it was on Wednesday. Lucky for me I logged into Facebook and there was a reminder or two. So I showed up.
I like to stick to following presidential level politics. Local races do not excite me to the same extent. But I had been noticing for months all my Obama 08 friends seem to be excited about this one guy: Richard Aborn. But I stayed away. District Attorney is not even Mayor. That was getting too local for me. But I wanted to check the guy out for the sake of my friends. So I showed up. Once at the bar I realized I had been to the same venue for a few other events by a few other organizations.
I was looking forward to seeing some friends - Faina showed up - and get a feel for Aborn. Also events like this draw interesting people, people you want to connect with. You end up in interesting conversations.
I showed up curious. I left excited. This is a local race, but this guy's election has national implications. You can be a white male like Aborn is and be working for equality for blacks. You can be a male and be taking stands against sexism. That is not odd at all. That is progressi
This is a guy who has prosecuted violent crimes for a living. He is not some soft on crime clown. This is a tough on crime guy who wants to make sense. Racism does not make sense.
From having met him only one evening, I am telling you, this guy is impressive, he is promising. Also from what I have been hearing, he is going to win tomorrow. I would not be surprised if he ends up in some federal position in about four years. You will be glad you got to know him and vote for him today.
It was an amazing evening. I went in. Jeff Kurzon - the first time I met Jeff Kurzon was near a Mahatma Gandhi statue - was greeting people as they streamed in. Kurzon's beard was gone. I made a blade gesture to my beard to tease. Last I had seen him was at the Bill Thompson event at Bombay Palace, and he was sporting a beard then. Good to know Jeff is now officially an Aborn staffer. By the time he helps push Aborn to victory, he will be a ripe cadidate for another high flying private sector lawyerly job, granted that is what he wants. Jeff used to work for the same law firm the Obamas worked for in their youth, its New York office. That was so impressive to me when I first found out. I have seen a halo around his head since.
Jeff introduced me to someone from "Brooklyn," and I am thinking this guy still thinks I am in Brooklyn. The NYPD drove me out of Brooklyn!
"I have seen you before!" I teased the person I was introduced to. Then Jeff introduced me to an author. His book was about to show up on Amazon.
My jaw dropped when Jeff took six months off work and went state hopping for Obama. He started in his native New Hampshire. He ended up as far as California. Then one day I spotted him in a corner at the Irish Rogue. I did not know he was going to be there. So I was visibly, excitedly surprised.
"You are back!"
Jeff Kurzon takes public service seriously. Like Aborn he has progressive white guy ideas on race, that touchy, touchy topic that many people don't know how to talk about.
Then one day Obama's sister showed up in New York while Jeff was in NH. I ended up one of her 10 friends on MyBO. Jeff emailed me saying he was jealous. Then Obama showed up in Harlem. Jeff rode in the car with the future president. They went downtown together. I emailed Jeff. I was jealous. But I was only half serious. The guy deserved the ride. He practically quit his fancy job for Obama. I am surprised he is not ambassador yet. Ugh, maybe after Obama's reelection.
And of course Jeff was on stage for the biggest rally in US presidential campaign history to date: that Washington Square Park rally. Oprah broke that record soon after, but it was a record while it lasted.
I bumped into Deanna Tilley before I bumped into Jeff Kurzon. The video at the top of this blog post comes from one of Deanna's Facebook status updates earlier today.
After having worked the room a little, I spotted this middle aged black woman in a corner. I had run out of people so I walked over to her and said hello. Ends up she is a grad school friend of Aborn's wife. She said she was a "housewife." My mass media trained mind was about to blurt the phrase "Desperate Housewife," but I resisted. Social media makes more sense on such topics.
Aborn showed up. The "housewife" kept nudging me to go say hello. I waited for an opening. Then I was standing in front of Richard Aborn. He was approachable.
I also moved here from the Midwest, I said teasingly. I once showed up for a county fair in Indiana, and I was the only nonwhite person at the fair. It is not like anyone bothers you, but you notice. Aborn is originally from Iowa. Iowa elected Obama. Then Iowa went ahead and legalized gay marriage, before California, before New York. So much for coastal progressivism.
I chatted with Aborn. I told him I was from Nepal. Told him I was a tech entrepreneur when he asked what I did. Then I told him I had read nothing about him to that point, and that I was there because all my Obama friends were so excited about him. Then his wife showed up, and he introduced. My wife, he said.
"I just met your friend Jackie!" I said. The wife got impressed.
Then something happened that really impressed me. A staffer looking woman approached Aborn. Eric will introduce you, she said.
"What do you want me to say?" Aborn asked her. I was touched. This guy was not short on words to speak, but the respect he showed for his staffer won me over. She briefed him. Later I got to talk to her. She was a consultant. I got her card: Jacqui Samuels, Samuels Consulting. Aborn approached us. This was after the speeches had been done, Eric Schneiderman had spoken, Bill Perkins had come and gone. He remembered me as the guy form Nepal. I was impressed. I was bragging to Jacqui I had more than 20,000 followers on Twitter. I offered to send out a few tweets for Aborn.
"Are they all from New York?" Aborn asked. It was like JFK and LBJ are watching a man land on the moon. And LBJ, ever the politician, goes: "If only he were a Negro!"
"No. All over the world. But many are from New York," I said.
Then it was one on one. This was my time with Richard Aborn. I told him now I was excited about him. I am all about tough on crime, I said, but the part that really got me is the one about your progressive ideas, I said. I don't know if I got too excited, or Aborn wanted to sit and chat with some chips, he reached out for chips and salsa at the nearby table.
In the aftermath the husband of someone Aborn sits on the Board of something or the other - interfaith dialogue something - and the wife walked over and the three of us had chips and salsa for a while.
The evening slowly wound down, and I walked away determined to blog and tweet for Aborn.
The guy got me excited.
At one point a George said he had seen my Jordan Thomas video. Jordan showed up. He said he had not seen that video to the end himself. The video is an hour, and it is "raw," like George said.
Towards the end I approached someone from having seen him at many political events.
"You run for office, right?" I said.
This was Brian Kavanagh, a member of the New York state assembly. He represents Union Square, Lower East Side. I guess I was in his district.
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